Colin Berry

About Colin Berry

I taught keyboard at Geoffrey Field Junior School Reading for eight years before taking up a post at Denefield School Reading teaching piano and trumpet. I have now been working as a peripatetic teacher at Denefield School for six years. I have worked extensively with both classical and jazz musicians and I am also interested in popular and contemporary music. My pupils are encouraged to learn and appreciate all forms of music and are not limited to style or genre, yet I believe a firm grounding in formal classical training is important in providing the young musician with tools to progress through the graded system and beyond. All musicians should be encouraged to be performers and their achievements should be regularly showcased in and out of the school environment. This provides a platform for building confidence and for creating a positive sense of achievement whilst ensemble playing helps to develop cooperation, leadership and teamwork.